Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** due to the customer demand for…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** due to the customer demand for convenience and healthy choices, the market for pre-cut produce has been growing significantly. However, this value-added produce is prone to significant microbial risks, leading to an alarming number of recalls in recent years. Since post-harvest washing is critical for mitigating this problem, several produce processors have encouraged US to develop a more effective and convenient disinfectant that can be approved by the FDA for safe, direct food contact, and no-rinse applications. This proposed project addresses research priority 1: food safety in topic area 8.5, food science and nutrition by developing a food-grade antimicrobial disinfectant (FAD) powder to mitigate foodborne hazards during post-harvest processing and distribution of fresh produce. Its goal is to ensure food safety, minimize recalls, and promote healthy fresh produce consumption.